The teachers who use the classroom after Roxy Star know what to expect.

"Roxy must have been here. The floor is covered in glitter," they say.

She never leaves home without it. It's her own kind of fairy dust, sprinkling behind her everywhere she goes. And in a way, you could say it's magic.

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Roxy Star is a burlesque and pole dance performer, and her life revolves around making other women shine, too -- in all definitions of the word.

On Dec. 7, she will be performing at the annual 1940s White Christmas Ball, organized by Boulder's nonprofit 1940s Ball. She also teaches multiple dance and fitness classes in Longmont and Denver, including two upcoming workshops, the Pin-Up Pole Photoshoot and the Vixen Pole Photoshoot, where she will teach participants how to incorporate pin-up modeling with vertical poles.

Roxy Star poses on stage at a show. (Courtesy photo: Ryan Olsen)

For Star, her sparkles are not shallow. They are deep and profound. The core of who she is.

"I am red lipstick. I am glitter. That's the way I was born," she says. "I swear to God, if you cut me open, a big explosion of glitter would pop out of my veins."

Star was miserable ("with capital letters," she emphasizes) working a corporate job in 2009 when she decided to try a pole fitness class.

"I was just dying to find a creative outlet. Starving," she says. "It unleashed this way for me to express myself. Feeling powerful in your body does amazing things for your soul and mind."

As she developed her strength and dance skills, she began fusing pole with burlesque into a unique form of dance that she coined "Polesque." Despite some of the initial backlash she felt from the burlesque community, the fusion just felt right for her, she says. Authentic.

It also either reflected -- or maybe spearheaded -- a new evolution of burlesque.

Burlesque dance has seen many incarnations, a fact Star teaches in her classes. The classic striptease of the 1920s was a rebellious choice by women to take control of their lives, beyond just being a wife or factory worker. Then the '90s welcomed the Neo-Burlesque movement, a backlash against stick-thin supermodels. Women who identified better with the fuller body shapes of the '20s began emulating traditional burlesque -- largely as a way to celebrate different body types and feel empowered by redefining what is sexy.

"They are enticed by some of the same things: It's certainly still incredibly liberating to go up there with the body you want to celebrate and perform," Star says. "But that's not the only part of it."

As Star sees it, the modern burlesque revolution is less focused on the soapbox of body image, and more of a rebellion -- against its very own roots. Modern burlesque is not limited to emulating the past. It's edgy. It can incorporate a stripper pole. It can be vintage dance moves to hip-hop or rock, in latex or booty shorts. It can be classic and sweet. It is equally as much Marilyn Monroe as it is Marilyn Manson. It can be anything.

"Instead of being an average person, this is an era of being something exceptional -- and people noticing that," she says. "You can make a video on YouTube and suddenly you're a famous singer."

This constant stream of introspection ("What's on your mind?" every time you log on to Facebook) easily amplifies hobbies into passions for people who already feel drawn to the burlesque era. Like Star. It helps people tap into their own truth and creativity.

"Burlesque, it feels in my heart and soul like a part of me. I don't feel removed from it, like I'm trying to emulate it or act it out," she says. "That's where my soul and heart has always been, and it just didn't have a home."

She thinks back on her youth. She's been wearing fire engine-red lipstick since age13 and fake eyelashes since 16. She's been a platinum blonde for 18 years.

"I have always used my appearance as a way of art," she says. "I don't feel less or diminished by it. I feel like I am explaining to the world better who I am."

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